Housing Becomes More Expensive, Mumbai Least Affordable, Says RBI

Housing affordability in the country has worsened over the past four years, according to a report by the Reserve Bank of India. The house price to income (HPTI) ratio - which indicates housing affordability - in 13 cities across the country increased from 56.1 in March 2015 to 61.5 in March 2019. Mumbai is the least affordable city, according to the RBI report. The house price to income ratio for Mumbai stood at 74.4 compared with 64.1 in March 2015. The overall increase for all 13 cities stood at 61.5 in March 2019, from 56.1 in March 2015, according to the report.

Among the four metro cities, Chennai and Delhi stood at the second and third positions in terms of least affordable cities - with HPTI ratios of 58.6 and 58.5 respectively -  while Kolkata emerged the most affordable city (HPTI ratio of 56.5).

The RBI's quarterly residential asset price monitoring survey, which was conducted in  Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Bhopal and Bhubaneswar, revealed that Bhubaneswar was the most affordable city in the country with the cheapest real estate.

The RBI report also highlighted that home loan eligibility, as measured by the EMI-to-income (ETI) ratio, remained relatively steady in the past two years. However, Mumbai, Pune and Ahmedabad recorded higher median ETI ratios compared to other cities.

The RBI report projected a worsening housing affordability going forward.